NIA — The following is a statement from the Ministry of Education and Library Services in the Nevis island Administration (NIA) dated April 05, 2018, regarding the 2018 Gulf Insurance Inter-primary Schools Athletics Championship.

The Gulf Insurance Inter-primary Schools Athletics Championship held on March 28, 2018, at the new Mondo Track at Long Point, Nevis, was largely a successful event judging from the large number of people who turned out to witness the event live and in living colour and by those who viewed or listened to it by electronic means. The atmosphere at the new venue was exciting and electrifying and all the athletes gave of their best.

However, notwithstanding the grand fireworks display at the end of the track meet, the event ended in somewhat of an anti-climax, a tie being declared between Joycelyn Liburd Primary School and Charlestown Primary School.

The Ministry of Education received a formal letter of protest on Thursday, March 29, 2018. This prompted the Ministry to request a comprehensive review of the entire meet.

A team comprising of Mr. Blackett, Meet Director, Mr. Garfield Virgo, Senior Meet Photo Finish Operator, Mr. Geran Browne, Meet Management Official and Mr. Warren Moving, Meet Judge, was tasked to review the meet and present their findings to the Ministry of Education.

After the review, a report was presented to the Ministry of Education which read in part:

“Each event was re-evaluated from Event #1 to Event #54 (56 included Exhibition events) in order, and corrections made if necessary, using available information.

“Each event was re-scored independently without a total scoring calculated. At the end of the process with Event # 54 (56 including Exhibition events), all the scores for all the events were compiled and the team score collated.”

The review team found that in Event # 34, Boys 9-10 800 meter Class 111 and 1V, a Charlestown Primary School athlete was not listed as having participated in the race.

However, on careful examination, the review team did find that the Charlestown Primary School athlete was indeed in that race and was the winner by a noticeable margin.

The necessary correction was made to the results of that race and the points awarded were corrected to reflect the actual outcome.

The disqualifications that were given on the day of the meet remain unchanged after the review.

Following this review, the scores for the 2018 Gulf Insurance Inter-primary Schools Athletics Championships are as follows:

The Ministry of Education wishes to congratulate all participating schools for their outstanding performance at this year’s inter-primary championship. We look forward to an even more exciting event next year.